I recently did a training around momentum and how important it is to maintain if you want to see consistent results in your business. A bit like a plane taking off – it requires a significant amount of energy and obviously a plan does not stop mid-runway because the Pilot suddenly changes his/her mind. The momentum has taken on its own life and the plane lifts off the ground. Again, if the Pilot killed the engines, the momentum is taken away and the plane will eventually fall out of the sky. The exact same applies to your business. So why would you take a break, kill your momentum and then have to start over?
Recently I finished reading a book by Dr Tom Barrett – “Dare to Dream and Work to Win” – I highly recommend you grab a copy and read it for yourself. On pages 171 – 172 he discusses the “Levels of Commitment Or Involvement”. Have a read (I won’t go into it here as it’s a bit long). Decide where you sit – levels 1 through 10. I am definitely a 10 but I’ll admit I haven’t always been for different reasons (or excuses probably). Dr Barrett also discusses vision, skill and motivation. These are the core ingredients necessary to sustain your focus in the development of your business. And he is so right!
Ask yourself the hard questions. Ask yourself how strong your vision for the future is. How competent are your skills – are they well developed and practised daily and what is your level of motivation. Motivation absolutely has to come from within – only others can inspire you but only you can motivate yourself to do what is necessary. If you wobble answering any of these, then dig a bit deeper to find out why that is.
Now I totally get it – many will fall over after a few prospects say no to them and that’s understandable if you come from a mid-level management/corporate background. Many will return to the comfort of being uncomfortable in that line of work rather than confront the reality that is our business. I would say that 98% of the population enjoy predictability. Is that you? And again, if so – dig deeper to find out why. Is your vision for building your business bigger than your comfort level with where you’re at currently??
You see, I’m uncomfortable with being comfortable – if that makes sense? I know that once I am doing something out of comfort, that I am not being stretched to the person I need to be to achieve what I am setting out to achieve. It’s a bit of a paradox and I’m not in anyway trying to go deep and meaningful on you here. I’m merely asking you to question your vision and is it strong enough. Not just that, here’s some other questions that might help you to assess why you would be wanting to take a break from your business, disrupt the momentum and leave your customers and team members hanging.
- How willing am I to learn?
- Do I see myself as a Leader?
- Are you willing to make a serious commitment to your business?
- Do I have belief – in the company, products/services/industry/income potential/myself?
- Do I rely on enthusiasm alone to get me through the tough days?
- Am I emotional when it comes to my business or am I able to not take things personally?
- Do I have a sense of purpose and focus when thinking about my business?
- Do I have conviction?
If you answered no to any or all of the above, time to take temperature check on yourself and your business. The thing is, if you are not leaping up out of bed every single day busting to call your leads, do your follow up calls and bring new people in, then why did you get started exactly? Maybe it’s time to figure out your real purpose for doing the business. And seriously just paying off your debts is not a strong enough why. It really, really isn’t. When I got started with company number 3 I was completely debt-free – but I still had massive conviction and a very strong why that kept me going and had me achieve the Diamond rank 5 months’ in.
I hope this has been helpful. You see I NEVER even entertain the idea of taking a break from my business. I’ve never understood how so many women just take off 14 weeks’ a year for school holidays’. Makes no sense to me at all. Personally, if I wanted to buy a product, I wouldn’t be waiting 2 weeks’ until a distributor decided to return to ‘work’ after managing kids’ during school holidays’. I mean, really??? The kids’ know that my business pays for things and understand the sacrifices that need to be made. That’s called being an entrepreneur and treating my business like a business. That might sound harsh to you, but not to me. And I guess at the end of the day, your bank account will determine where you are with that. That’s it for today. Entrepreneurs regularly ask themselves the tough questions if they are wanting to create serious success. Sometimes you need to recognize that in order to become the butterfly, you need to shed the cocoon.